Monday, January 21, 2013

project: sell this house - bathroom renovation COMPLETE

Ladies and gentlemen, we are finally finished with our mudroom/bathroom renovation project.

I present to you the view looking through the mudroom to the half bath. A shoe cabinet holds all our messy shoes we use performing yard duties and wooden hooks mounted above hold other accessories.

The image on the left is natural light while the one on the right shows the room when the light fixture is on. Admittedly, it was a surprise when we first flipped on the switch, but a happy accident we're thrilled about. When dark, the pattern is so strong it blankets the tiny room like wallpaper.

We special ordered the industrial floor tiles from Home Depot and arranged them in stripes to elongate the room instead of in the usual checker board pattern. These floor tiles come in a wide range of colors - you just have to ask your sales associate for swatches.

I was thrilled to finally hang my wooden bird hooks. I found the owl and parrot separately - one at a local thrift shop and the other in Austin - and painted them. When weight is applied to the hook, the wings lift up! Let me know if you ever see another because they could use one more to join their flock.

Here's the pocket door that separates the bathroom from the mudroom. It really came out more pink than the salmon/coral color I thought I had picked, but I'm dealing with it. A lemon yellow would make my day, but the thought of sanding and painting again turns my stomach.

The mirror was discounted to twenty dollars at TJ Maxx and came in a faux rustic natural patina. Of course I painted it. Because I paint EVERYTHING. The light fixture above the sink is Martha Stewart and is from Home Depot.

What I originally thought would be a simple project turned into a year-long painful process. In total, the project could have been completed in a couple weeks, but balancing family, work, budget and fun time spread the project out longer than what Bobby would have liked, but we're thrilled with the result.
We saved money on fixtures and materials, but we did have to hire a framer, plumber and electrician to build up the floor, fix the leaky plumbing which caused the mold and install new electrical lines. Bobby was able to install the drywall, beadboard, and doors/framing which saved us more money, but gave him more than a few headaches.

And in the end, our design choices have probably not made the house more sellable. We reached a point during the process where we abandoned the notion of fixing to sell, but turned it into a labor of love.